Thursday, September 06, 2012

How To Stay on Course in the Twenty Somethings

I have two things I want consistent on my flow days and my not so flow days of life.
Today, I was reflecting on two ideas as I went for a run:

FIRST,
The verse that I was mulling over mid-jog was:
How can a young person stay on the path of purity?    By living according to your word. Psalm 119:9

One of my main goals this year is to be a pillar young adult who holds onto God's word because i know that those who cling to what God says, "Cannot be shaken."  Plus, men and women of purity in the twenty somethings are a direct reflection of God's glorious light in my opinion.

Recently at the annual Leadership Summit, Patrick Lencioni  (who is one of today's top leadership experts) blew my mind by defining an organization's core values as the top 3 values "your willing to be punished for".  In this case, I want to love the Word and let it exude so much in my every day life that people might actually feel like I talk about it too much or that I get too excited about conversations where I see the Bible's wisdom jump out of the pages.  To be punished for loving the message of the Bible at my core.

One interesting habit that I found in a recent book called Sticky Faith, was that those who went to their parents and the Bible first when a problem arose were more likely to stay firm in their faith through their twenties.  Love this!

SECOND,
I grew up reading the wisdom of Proverbs and it has shaped me tremendously.
As i was skimming over Proverbs, I was so surprised at how unimpressed Solomon was with riches in comparison to living a wise and righteous life for God.

Better a little with the fear of the Lord
    than great wealth with turmoil. 
Better a small serving of vegetables with love
    than a fattened calf with hatred. 
Better a little with righteousness
    than much gain with injustice.

How much better to get wisdom than gold,
    to get insight rather than silver!

The generous will themselves be blessed,
    for they share their food with the poor.


I pray that as I continue to mature and take on more responsibilities in time management, relationships, and money...

...that I continue to become a solid man of God; a pillar of purity, that keeps in perspective the value of God speaking into my life through the Bible to be a man of purity, and how to keep in perspective the value I put on riches in relation to it chipping away at my integrity and heart focus on God's provision.

2 comments:

Amber Janelle Livermore said...

Love this, Brent. Thanks for being you.

Carmen Record said...

This is awesome. And so highly respectable that you have publicly taken a stand to be a man of purity. Solid!